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GEOGRAPHIC  NEWS  BULLETIN 

ON 

THE  RELIGION  OF  JAPAN  AND  ITS  EIIEEROR 

PREPARED  AND  IS9UED  BY 

THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY 

(Founded  in  1888,  for  the  Increase  and  Diffusion  of  Geographic  Knowledge) 

General  Headquarters,  Washington,  D.  C. 

No.  20 C.P.3. 


APR  3 19 


Release  Immediately, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  West,  long  in  the  van  of  the  material  as  well  as  the 
moral  progress  of  the  world,  has  grown  to  think  of  Christendom  as 
synonymous  with  the  great  world  powers.  The  recent  news  that  the  new 
ruler  of  what  is  now  the  third  greatest  world  power  has  taken  office 
with  solemn  rites  of  a non-Christ ian  religion  has  come  to  some,  there- 
fore, as  a somewhat  startling  fact.  ’ Something  of  the  part  that 
Shintoism,  this  old  imperial  religion,  plays  in  the  life  of  the 
Japanese  is  brought  out  in  the  following  bulletin  issued  from  the  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  headquarters  of  the  National  Geographic  Society. 

"Shintoism  has  had  its  ups  and  downs  in  Japan,  but  it  has 
been  kept  alive  from  the  dawn  of  the  empire,  and  in  spite  of  its 
obvious  deficiencies  to  the  mind  of  the  Westerner,  it  has  a very  deep 
hold  on  the  people  of  the  islands,  figuring  everywhere  in  their  daily 
lives.  It  has  always  been  a simple  cult,  but  since  Japan  has  taken 
her  place  actively  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  the  faith,  in  so  far  as 
the  heads  of  the  government  are  concerned,  has  been  invested  with  an 
even  more  marked  simplicity  and  dignity.  It  would  even  seem  that 
modern  conceptions  of  practical  psychology  have  been  called  upon  to 
anchor  this  faith  more  firmly  as  a Japanese  institution. 


JAPAN  ( Page  2) 


Inculcates  Patr.i  ot  ism  (Subhead) 

« In  a way  th  . officialdom  of  Japan  probably  sees  a stronger 
reason  today  for  clinging  to  its  old  faith  than  at  any  time  in  the  past 
for  it  is  essentially  a religion  of  patriotism,  and  patriotism  is  the 
corner-stone  of  the  empire.  Furthermore  it  inculcates  a patriotism 
which  pivots  around  the  imperial  family  and  especially  around  the 
person  of  the  Emperor,  Nothing  approaching  the  reverence  or  even 
worship  of  the  Japanese  masses  toward  their  emperor  has  been  possible 
under  Christianity 'even  where  loyalty  and  love  of  kings  has  been 
carried  to  the  farthest  extreme.  Western  monarchs  have  stepped  at  the 
claim  of  their  1 divine  right ? to  kingship — the  idea  that  they  are 
chosen  of  God,  But  the  Japanese  emperors  have  gone  much  farther  and 
claim  that  they  are  actually  descended  directly  from  the  chief  Shinto 
deity, 

"Fairly  rccektiy  history  has  emphasized  the  seemingly  practical 
advantage  to  the  government  of  this  belief.  When  the  Japanese  turned 
to  a certain  extent  away  from  Shintoism  and  to  Buddhism  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  reverence  for  the  emperors  declined,  and  they  became  mere 
figure-heads  with  Shoguns  actually  ruling.  The  swing  back  to  Shintoism 
led  without  question  to  the  restoration  of  the  Imperial  family  to  its 
old  powers  in  1867,  Since  that  time  the  rulers  have  been  careful  to 
show  at  every  opportunity  their  adhesion  to  the  old  faith  of  their 
fathers, 

Seems  Queer  Jumble  (Subhead) 


"Shintoism  seems  a queer  and  incomplete  jumble  of  beliefs  and 


. 


JAPAN  (Page  3) 


superstitions  to  the  Westerner,  but  the  masses  of  the  Japanese  who  are 
born  in  its  atmosphere  do  not  seem  to  question  its  adequacy,  especially 
when,  as  is  usually  the  case,  it  is  combined  with  a modified  Buddhism 
and  a modified  Confucianism.  This  blending  and  modification  of 
religions  shows  a trait  of  the  Japanese  that  has  been  demonstrated  more 
familiarly  in  their  absorption  of  parts  of  the  material  civilization 
and  culture  of  the  West.  Buddhist  casuists  in  the  eighth  century 
explained  that  the  god-ancestors  of  the  Japanese  emperors  were  simply 
incarnations  of  the  Buddha  and  that  the  religions  were  therefore  one. 
This  view  became  the  generally  accepted  one  and  was  further  amplified 
to  include  the  teachings  of  Confucius  on  the  theory  that  Shintoism 
teaches  of  the  past,  Confucianism  of  the  present,  and  Buddhism  of  the 
future. 

"Taken  alone  Shintoism  is  more  nearly  like  the  mythology  of 
the  Greeks  and  the  Teutons  than  like  a real  religion.  Its  chief  deity 
is -the  sun  goddess,  and  there  are  supposed  to  be  in  addition  'eighty 
myriads'  of  lesser  deities.  One's  ancestors  are  worshipped  too,  and 
especially  are  the  deceased  emperors  deified.  Among  the  common  people 
there  are  gods  or  spirits  for  everything  from  the  sewing  needle  and  the 
rice  pot  td>  trees,  mountains,  clouds  and  the  sun.  Shrines  are  set  up 
along  the  roads  and  even  in  out-of-the-way  places  to  the  more  important 
of  the  gods  and  to  the  spirits  of  deceased  men  of  prominence.  Shrines 
are  even  improvised  to,  the  'spirits'  of  certain  trees  and  rocks. 

Religion  of  Rulers  Simpler  (Subhead) 

"But  in  the  Shintoism  practiced  by  the  rulers  these  petty 
gods  have  in  effect  been  brushed  aside.  In  the  palace  of  the  emperor 


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JAPAN  (Page  4) 


is  a ’Hall  of  Reverence,  1 a sort  of  holy  of  holies  of  Shintoism,  where 
on  occasion  the  emperor  and  his  family  worship  and  where  solemn  state 
religious  ceremonies  are  conducted  with  high  officials  in  attendance. 
The  architectural  ideal  of  Shintqasm  is  simplicity,  and  in  the  Hall  of 
Reverence  this  has  been  carried  to  it3  highest  development.  The  room 
is  large  and  lofty,  and  its  walls,  ceiling  and  floor  are  all  con- 
structed of  smooth,  knctless  boards  of  snowy  whiteness*  Near  cne  end 
are  three  shrines  in  the  form  of  altars  or  cabinets,  also  of  pure  white 
wood.  The  large  central  altar  is  that  of  the  sun  goddess,  from  whom 
the  royal  family  claims  descent.  On  one  side  is  a smaller  shrine  to 
the  spirits  of  the  human  ancestors  of  the  emperor,  and  bn  the  other 
side  is  an  altar  which  demonstrates  the  simplifying  influences  in 
modern  Shintoism:  it  is  dedicated  to  the  remainder  of  the  ’eighty 
myriads  of  gods.1  Beside  each  altar  is  placed  a green  bough  and  in 
front  of  each  a censer  containing  unlighted  incense.  On  the  floor  are 
mats  of  rice  straw. 

"When  the  emperor  is  to  worship,  officials  of  the  government 
Bureau  of  Rites  enter  and  seat  themselves  on  mats.  The  doers  of  the 
altars  are  opened  and  the  officiating  priests,  to  the  sound  of  ancient 
music,  place  within  offerings  of  rice,  fish,  vegetables,  cloth,  etc. 
While  the  officials  stand  the  princes  and  high  nobles  file  in.  Finally 
the  emperor  enters  alone,  walks  slowly  to  the  altars,  bows  his  head, 
takes  a green  branch  and  waves  it  in  token  of  purification*  He  then 
ignites  a stick  of  incense  on  each  censer,  repeats  a prayer,  and 


retires. 


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JAPAN  (Page  5) 


Holiday  When  Emperor  Worships  ( Subhead ) 

"The  stated  ccasions  on  which  the  emperor  worships  in  the 
Hall  of  Reverence  are  national  holidays  in  Japan,  a fact  which  impresses 
the  imperial  sanction  of  the  cult  on  the  minds  of  the  people.  In 
another  important  way  it  plays  its  part  in  the  public  life  of  the 
nation.  Whenever  an  ambassador,  envoy  or  other  official  is  to  go 
abroad  in  the  interest  of  the  government,  he  must  go  to  the  Hail  of 
Reverence  before  his  departure  to  worship  the  national  gods  and  to  ask 

their  blessings  on  his  work  for  the  nation* 

’’The  Hall  of  Reverence  is  the  somewhat  austere  place  of  wor- 
ship of  the  rulers  and  leaders  of  Japan.  The  temple  of  the  sun  god- 
dess at  Ise,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  Japanese  Mecca.  Emperors  and 
potentates  worship  there  too,  but  to  it  also  flock  tens  of  thousands  of 
the  common  people.  Those  who  can  afford  to  do  so  feel  that  they  should 
make  at  least  one  visit  a year  to  that  temple  as  a sort  of  annual  cere- 
mony of  purification.  One  or  two  other  spots  in  the  empire  are  simi- 
larly religious  magnets  to  the  Japanese  masses. 

lilgrimage  and  Va  nation  in  One  (Subhead) 

”The  pilgrimage  to  one  of  Japan’s  important  shrines  usually 
Ise,  the  sacred  Mount  THji,  or  Miyajima  in  the  Inland  Sea— is  a 
Japanese  institution  which  strengthens  both  patriotism  and  the  hold  of 
Shintoism.  Not  many  of  the  more  humble  subjects  of  the  emperor  can 
afford  to  make  a long  pilgrimage  at  their  own  expense,  but  the  problem 
has  been  solved  by  the  maintenance  of  innumerable  associations  that 
might  be  called  ’cooperative  pilgrimage  societies*’  Members  of  a 

contribute  a few  cents  apiece  weekly  to  a pilgrimage  fund.  At 


group 


i 


jhPAI!  (rage  6) 


, tne  successful  member  has  his 

expenses  paid  from  the  fun.  acts  nf  religious  merit.  They 

"Such  expeditions  are  During  the  pilSrimage 

serve  the  Japanese  as  well  as  vacation^  ^ ^ ^ devotional 
season  crowds  will  ^ sightseeinS.  participation  in 

exercises  will  engage  who  tles3  tooths  furnishing  refresh 

festivals,  or  in  patronizing  h ^ ^ outside  ^ Torii,  or 
ments  knick-knacks  and  amusemen  „eariy  every  temple. 

Cleanliness  a Central  Th^ght  (Subhead) 

f the  Japanese  toward  their  religions  has 
„Ihe  psychology  introduction  of  Buddhism 

teen  a puzzle  to  many  Westerners.  . ^ life.  They  seem  to 

they  seemingly  gave  little  thought  to  a . ^ ^ then  t#  have 

a.  j fha4,  there  was  su^-i 

^ve  taken  it  for  gran^.  a somewhat  pessimistic  view 

dropped  the  matter.  Budanism  g v ^ ^ colored  Serially 

„f  the  hereafter,  but  even  that  seems  - t00  in  Shinto- 

by  the  old  Shinto  indifference.  _nt.  The 

i«  of  a belief  that  oinfulness^i - m^  ^ ^ reUgious  ceremonies 

conception  seems  rather  that  sm  e in  Shintoism. 

Cleanse.  The  idea  of  purification  is  a centr^  ^ & ^ „ 

The  body  must  be  kept  clean  and  before  eao  pefore 

fountain  in  which  worshippers  must  carefully  wash 

they  enter." 


C 


I*1-! 


